Bufflehead

The Eat Slower app was great for me!

1) I see a lot of people talk about not having an appetite for foods they previously enjoyed or not being able to swallow certain foods. Why is this? My naive thought process is that your stomach had a procedure but your taste buds didn't and why would something that happened to the stomach impact your ability to swallow certain foods? I don't think anyone really knows why our tastes change. My best guess would be it has to do with elimination of a source of hunger hormone, plus gut bacteria get re-set through surgery. It is real though! As for swallowing, I actually haven't heard about people not being able to swallow something. If the taste or texture feels off, many people will choose not to swallow food after surgery. If it isn't soft enough, well-chewed, etc., it may come right back up after you swallow it. That's about all I know that would shed any light on that. 2) I see people talk about not losing much weight or immediately having hunger again. Why is this? Is there a percentage of people that a smaller stomach doesn't work for? How can you not lose weight with a significantly smaller stomach {aside from poor food or liquid choices}. I know we all have different metabolism and our bodies process foods differently - I don't necessarily believe in the whole "calories in, calories out" thing but ... seriously, how can your body not lose if your stomach is like 80% smaller and you follow the food/liquid rules? There are different phenomena that are possible here, and I am not sure which you are talking about. Some people experience stalls in weight loss, even early on (the three week stall for example), even though they are doing everything right. I'm not sure anyone knows for sure why that stall or any other stall happens -- glycogen depletion and replacement, hormonal changes, lots of things could be at work. Then there are people who lose a lot of weight and then either stop losing, or start re-gaining. Typically that's because of poor food choices: grazing all day, eating high-calorie, low-density slider foods, refusing to weigh/measure their portions and track calories and Protein, things like that. What is the percentage of people this just doesn't work for? Depends on your definition of "work for," as well as on your own surgeon. You would want to discuss rates of maintained excess weight loss for your specific surgeon with him or her. That whole "inverted gastric sleeve" sounds like a fancy name for over-sewing the staple line, which I think a lot of surgeons do.

What is your eating like? Calories, carbs, protein, etc.?

Have you tried the Jay Robb egg white protein powder? That gets pretty good reviews. What are you mixing your powder with? That might also be a factor?

I blend my shakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk or unsweetened cashew milk. Don't add stuff like fruit -- that's basically just mainlining extra calories, carbs, and sugar straight into your gut. If you need extra flavors, use Torani SF syrups, Sweet Leaf sweet drops, instant coffee, or small amounts of SF/FF pudding mix. Another option for mixing your shakes is Fair Life or CarbMaster milk. I used Unjury, Jay Robb, Syntrax Nectar (particularly the "sweets" varieties -- although the fruit and tea varieties are also good and mix well with water), Syntrax Matrix, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, and Chike. I love the Chike but you have to be careful with it as it is higher calorie and carb than a lot of other shakes. Keep in mind that tasting now is great, but don't just jump in and buy a full tub until you have sampled something *after* surgery. Many people find their tastes change dramatically after surgery and what the protein powder they thought they loved, they can no longer stand at all.

When you are approved for things like fruit, maybe berries or other high-fiber, low carb fruit. However, my advice would be to limit or avoid fruit, especially in smoothies. It's just an efficient way to pump more sugar, calories, and carbs into your body, and running it through the blender even destroys a lot of the fiber, which would be one of the few benefits to eating fruit. I wasn't allowed any fruit until two months after surgery, and even then, whatever I ate had to fit within my daily carb limits (no more than 60 total carbs per day). I preferred to "spend" my carbs on items that are high in protein like beans and yogurt.

Maybe try splitting the dose? I used a liquid multi for the first several weeks after surgery. I took one dose in the morning and one in the evening. You can dilute it with water, G2, light juice, etc. I never had any problems with liquid vitamins or minerals, but the one time I tried a mineral supplement in pill form I got horrible nausea and foamies, although I didn't actually chuck it up. I was scared to do solid supplements after that too, so I understand where you are coming from. I used Wellesse brand liquid multi (also used their calcium and iron) and ordered from Amazon. You could also go somewhere like Vitamin Shoppe or GNC and see what they have on hand. If it takes you a couple of days to get something new on hand, don't worry too much about skipping vitamins. It takes weeks to develop a serious vitamin deficiency -- taking a day or two without them won't hurt you. Good luck!

Insurance requirements can vary from plan to plan. I have Cigna, but my work has their insurance administered by a separate company with their own requirements, which are completely different from Cigna policies posted on the web. My insurance coordinator knew about that and knew the correct requirements for my specific plan. You may want to find your member benefit handbook and see what it specifically says about requirements for your plan. If there is a discrepancy between what it says and what your coordinator is saying, bring it to your coordinator and (nicely) ask for clarification. Good luck!

If the scale is bothering you, stay off it. It's completely normal to still be bloated up with all those surgery fluids for up to a week - 10 days. The nerves in your stomach were cut and they are still healing. They cannot reliably tell you whether or not you are full. That runny nose you got is a signal that you overate. This is why it is so important to measure out a small portion and stick to that, and not wait for a physical "full" feeling (which is a bad cue to wait for anyway -- you want "satisfied," not "full,"). IMO there is no reason to eat a full carton of yogurt. Did your plan come with guidelines as to how much to eat for each meal? Mine didn't allow more than 3 tablespoons of food per meal when I was limited to things like yogurt. In any event, measure your portions, keep them small, and you will do great. Good luck!

You're upset about losing 15 lbs in 17 days? What were you expecting? Are you expecting that you will keep losing almost a pound a day? Because, I wish I had a way to say this gently -- you won't, unless you are some kind of freak of nature. Seriously, you are doing great with weight loss. Hang on because you may be about to hit the three week stall (if you don't know what that is, use the search function here and you will learn tons!). I don't want to freak you out, I just want to reassure you that if it does happen, it's completely normal and you are not doing anything wrong. As for the hunger, are you on a PPI? I am not sure what surgery you had -- your profile says lap band, but you are posting on the sleeve forum. Most sleeve patients are prescribed a PPI by their surgeon due to excess stomach acid after surgery. Excess stomach acid feels just like hunger. If you are on a PPI, you may need a stronger dose or a stronger PPI -- consult with your surgeon. Also, you are likely in an early eating phase. When you get to more solid foods, you may feel more sated with your meals. Finally, if you are feeling doomed and depressed, I hope you can reach out to your medical care team. No one should feel that way. A contributing factor can be that you are losing weight very quickly (you really are, despite your perspective on it -- I promise you!). Fat cells are where your body stores hormones, and right now your body is emptying out fat cells and dumping hormones into your blood stream. That can make many people feel extremely emotional, weepy, depressed, and even angry. Also, just the trauma of surgery poses a huge stress to your body and can make you feel sad and overwhelmed during recovery. I'm not a medical professional so I can't diagnose you or anything (even if I was a medical professional I couldn't diagnose you over a message board) but I can say I have seen a lot of people feeling similar to you right after surgery posting here. Hang in there, you are doing great.

It depends on what you need. Too many carbs and calories in your life? Use unsweetened almond or cashew milk. Not enough protein? Go for CarbMaster or Fair Life (skim) milk. I personally wouldn't use any regular dairy milk, no matter whether it is skim, 1 %, etc. Too many calories and carbs for me. Although, I'm assuming you are asking about milk because you are mixing protein shakes. If you are just looking for something to drink and aren't making protein shakes, IMO it's best to stick with calorie-free drinks like water or black coffee (if allowed).

If your medical team allows it, use some Miralax or Milk of Magnesia in conjunction with Senokot or Dulcolax (stool softener). You need to poop, don't hold back. It's either poop or end up in the ER having some nurse's fingers up inside working to remove impacted stool. Which do you choose?

I don't understand what a "con" would be of having it sooner? Or to look at it differently, why would you want to put off getting healthier for several months?

How long does the process take from initial consultation to surgery date? It really depends on your insurance, your surgeon, and you. Could be anywhere from a couple of weeks to a year, but for most people it seems to be about 3 - 6 months. Did anyone feel that people in their environment judged them for having surgery vs 'trying to lose weight' the natural way? I've told just about everyone who has asked about my weight loss about my surgery. Only one person has said anything negative to my face. Other people may be saying things behind my back, or thinking negative, judgmental things. I really don't give a rat's patootie what anyone thinks about me or how I lose weight though. That may be one of the benefits of doing this as a not-young person (I am 49 now) -- my IDGAF bone has definitely gotten stronger through the years. It's a medical decision, I made it in consultation with my physicians, anyone who feels like they have the right to an opinion on my medical decisions can bite me. How long was the hospital stay? My surgeon's standard hospital stay is 2 nights. Others do 1 night, 3 nights, or on an outpatient basis, it varies a lot. How long does recovery take? Again, this is all over the map. We are all such individuals when it comes to healing, plus different surgical techniques may result in longer or shorter healing times, some people may have complications, others may have hiatal hernia repair or gall bladder removal done at the same time as the sleeve. I was off work for two weeks and pretty much exhausted for four weeks after surgery. I've seen posts from people who bounced back a lot sooner, and others who took longer. But to be clear, during the two weeks off work, I was tired, napping a lot, and in occasional pain, but not bedridden or unable to care for myself and my household. I just needed to be able to take things slow and rest a lot.

My surgeon's upper limit for carbs is 60 grams, but every plan seems to vary a bit.

I didn't need any help. I made sure that tasks involving heavy lifting (changing kitty litter, yard work) were done prior to surgery and everything was fine.

Get the scale out of your house. Have a friend or relative hide it. You'll get weighed when you show up for surgery, so you'll know your pre-surgery starting point. And yes, your cycle can play havoc with what weight shows up on the scale. So can constipation, increasing your exercise, and your body being weird and refusing to play by the rules you expect it to play by. Get used to it -- your weight loss is never going to be in a linear slope down. There will be all sorts of starts and stops along the way. Also, keep in mind that the pre-op diet isn't about weight loss, it's about shrinking your liver. PS I'm serious about getting the scale out of your house. You don't need it and it's making you upset and stressed. GET RID OF IT.

Call your surgeon. May very well be nothing but only medical professionals can figure that out for sure, not internet strangers.

There are definitely cheaper programs in the U.S., though most of them are going to be in the southern half of the country. Check out Dr. Umbach in Las Vegas, Dr. Michael Wood in Michigan, Dr. Borland in Louisiana, Dr. Shillingford in Florida -- those are names I have seen a lot from patients doing cash pay in the U.S. When you are discussing prices, make sure it is all-inclusive -- hospital fees, anesthesiologist, etc. Good luck!

When is popcorn okay to eat? Whenever you are ready to stop losing weight and start gaining! Seriously, don't waste your honeymoon period by eating nutrition-free crap slider foods. There's plenty of time for that later on.

My plan was very strict -- 3 meals a day, no more than 3 tablespoonfuls of food at each meal. No snacks other than protein shakes. So, it wasn't my call as to how to plan anything! It worked for me though.

Definitely speak with the surgeon, don't take instructions/information on this kind of issue from the receptionist. There may also be alternate pain-relief possibilities that the surgeon could discuss with your daughter. Good luck!

Wellesse liquid multi-vitamin is good. You can buy it from Amazon. I took a double dose -- one in the morning, one at night. Just keep it refrigerated and it tastes fine, or you can dilute it with water or light juice. You can also go to somewhere like GNC or Vitamin Shoppe and tell them you are looking for a liquid multi-vitamin that is sugar free and they should be able to offer you alternatives.

I used Wellesse liquid calcium for the first several weeks after surgery. Much lower calorie and carb than the specialty bariatric calcium chews. I thought it tasted fine on its own (particularly refrigerated) but you can also dilute it into water, light fruit juice, G2, etc. After a while I switched to Citracal Petites.

At 2+ years out, my normal diet includes meat, fish, eggs, green veggies, healthy fats (olive oil for the most part), fruit, tree nuts, black coffee, tea, and yogurt. Things that I have occasionally include dairy (other than yogurt), beans, ground nuts, and pulses (such as lentils). Things that I avoid other than on very special occasions are grains, refined sugar, alcohol, and starchy veggies. And by "very special occasion" I mean basically Christmas and Thanksgiving, not "my niece's graduation" or "my mother's birthday." I have learned through very hard experience that with that last group of foods, if I let them into my life, they take over and I am on a rapid road to re-gain. There are definitely some people who can practice "everything in moderation" after the sleeve and not re-gain their weight, and I am not one of them. All that said, I enjoy my food, I love my life, and I do not feel deprived. There isn't any food that I can't physically tolerate (to the point of throwing up or getting food stuck, or dumping), but both leavened bread and carbonation make my tiny stomach very uncomfortable, so I avoid them. Well, I have a few sips of champagne on those special occasions but that is it. Anything more just hurts and defeats the purpose.